Cultural aspects of advertising and selling in Brazil

cultural aspects of advertising and selling in Brazil.

Brazil vs. The United States: Marketing and advertising considerations

While the world is growing increasingly homogeneous, there are still considerable cultural differences between the different nations of the world, particularly low-context largely European cultures such as the United States, and high-context Latin American cultures such as Brazil. While America is growing more affected by Latino culture and immigration, and Brazil is becoming more integrated into the global economic community, marketing and advertising to both nations still plays upon deeply cherished notions of happiness and family that are often less swift to alter than the rapidly transforming exterior trappings of culture.

Describing the United States as a low-context culture means that what is said on the surface is what is meant -- meanings are taken literally between speakers (High context vs. low context cultures, 2009, Via). Plain speaking is valued, along with a clear message rather than an emotional 'feeling' communicated by an advertisement. While it is true that highly ironic advertising is used in the United States, its effects remain somewhat controversial in terms of their efficacy. In high-context cultures like Brazil, the relationship of the speakers affects how the literal meaning is interpreted. For example, how respect is communicated through body language and tone of voice may have great significance between persons on different rungs of the social hierarchy in this high-context culture. Nuance in relationships and meanings must be carefully observed when constructing advertisements.

One of the reasons Brazil is described as 'high context' is because of the importance of family. Selling a product or service because of its ability to bring families together is paramount. For example, in encouraging older people to adopt cell phones and new computer technology, stressing how this may bring young and older generations closer may be a more persuasive marketing strategy in Brazil. When showing all kinds of relationships in Brazil, it must be remembered that touching, kissing on both cheeks among family members, relatives, friends and acquaintances is common. Thus showing an advertisement where a family was not demonstrative might seem strange or unappealing in Brazil -- or the viewers might not even understand that the group in question was a family at all (Serpa 20050.

However, children are generally more respectful of elders in Brazil -- thus showing a bored teenager humorously instructing a parent how to use a new piece of technology might not have the cute and sarcastic appeal it would in the U.S. Adults are more likely to be the 'purse string' holders in Brazil regarding tweens and teens, as few teenagers in the middle class have jobs and discretionary income. Middle-class children tend to be less autonomous and more closely guarded in Brazil, thus appealing to teen defiance of parental norms would not lure parents, and perhaps not even teens, to buy a product. Amongst other social classes in Brazil, teen employment may be more common, but not for luxury purchases -- because of the greater class difference in Brazil, and the greater wealth-poverty gap, a marketer must more carefully segment to what economic segments of the population the product is being designed to attract. Different marketing campaigns might be needed, if the product is supposed to target an extremely large audience, economically and ethnically.

Brazil is quite a diverse society, and race is unfortunately a divider between most of the populace -- one Black Brazilian remarked that "Blacks amount to 49% of a population of 180 million people, but it is impossible to create a middle class without education and with salaries 51% less than the salaries of whites," and he said that in his opinion, the face of poverty in Brazil is black (Ramos 2007). Treating race with sensitivity is thus essential in advertisements. However, one common, uniting dynamic between most social classes and peoples in Brazil, is a great love of music and the centrality of music to the culture and to festivals and daily life. Using music effectively in advertising campaigns is thus essential.